Canada wildfires disrupt industry, force 14,000 from homes (updated)
11/07/2017 03:17
(Adds that West Fraser Timber has suspended operations at 3
sites)
By Ethan Lou
CALGARY, Alberta, July 10 (Reuters) - Rapidly spreading
wildfires in Western Canada's British Columbia on Monday
disrupted timber and mining operations, damaged equipment at a
regional electric utility and forced thousands from homes in the
interior of the province.
Authorities said at least 10 of more than 200 fires burning
across the province were close to residential communities. Some
38,000 hectares (93,900 acres) had been ravaged as of midday on
Monday. No deaths or serious injuries have been reported, but
some 14,000 people have been forced from their homes.
West Fraser Timber Co WFT.TO said it had temporarily
suspended operations at 100 Mile House, Williams Lake and Chasm.
It said the sites have total annual production capacity of 800
million board feet of lumber and 270 million square feet of
plywood.
"The fire situation in the Interior of British Columbia is
volatile and the situation is evolving," said West Fraser, one
of several Canadian lumber producers targeted by new U.S.
tariffs in April as a long-running trade dispute escalated.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N1HX0XP
Vancouver-based EnGold Mines Ltd EGM.V said it had
suspended exploration in British Columbia, home to all of its
operations.
Imperial Metals Corp III.TO said activity at its Mount
Polley copper mine was "significantly reduced" because some
employees had been evacuated from their homes, many roads had
been closed and a local airport had been shut down.
"Should critical supplies, such as fuel, not be available
due to road closures, the mine may be forced to suspend
operations," the company said.
Taseko Mines Ltd TKO.TO , which operates a mine near some
of the fires, said some employees had been affected by
evacuation alerts, but the facility was still running at
capacity.
The province's main electricity distributor BC Hydro and
Power Authority said more than 170 power poles and 29
transformers had been damaged, and it expected the damage to
increase.
British Columbia on Friday declared its first state of
emergency since 2003 and deployed some 1,600 personnel over the
weekend as electrical storms and brisk winds passed through the
interior of the bone-dry province.
The fires broke out just over a year after a wildfire in
Fort McMurray in neighboring Alberta province displaced 88,000
people and burned 590,000 hectares.
(Reporting by Ethan Lou in Calgary, Alberta; Editing by Tom
Brown and Richard Pullin)
((Ethan.Lou@thomsonreuters.com; +1-403-531-1634; Reuters
Messaging: ethan.lou.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: CANADA WILDFIRE/